Strath Haven senior class ties school record

NETHER PROVIDENCE — Strath Haven High School’s 2014 senior class has tied a school record for number of students earning a high level of recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Competition.

Superintendent Richard Noonan said 18 seniors were recently named as National Merit Scholarship Semi-finalists. This matches the total to achieve that honor in 2005, though a footnote in that there were 10 more students in that earlier graduating class.

“So overall, this is setting a new standard for the school,” Noonan said at the Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board’s most recent meeting.

In addition, 14 other members of the school’s Class of 2014 were honored as ”Commended Students” in the competition.

About 1.5 million high school students take part in the competition each year, based on their PSAT/NMSQT scores. Of those, approximately 34,000 are recognized as Commended Students and about 16,000 as semi-finalists.

On a separate topic, Noonan said the district has one more student than during the last academic year. The elementary schools have 58 more students, Strath Haven Middle School has 40 fewer students and the high school is down 17 students.